The present invention relates in general to training cups for toddlers and small children. In particular, the present invention relates to an improved drinking device having properties of a cup for drinking but which may have a variable restriction on flow to allow training to use a cup as well as to allow for sealing against spilling during travel.
Infants begin feeding using the mother's breast and bottles having similarly shaped nipples. The transition from nipples to a fully open cup is difficult for small children. There are many training cups available commercially, with a common form being a sippy cup, where a standard cup body is provided with a cover having an aperture protrusion. While these sippy cups help train the child on the gross arm and hand movements of lifting and tilting the cup, they do not train the child on the fine mouth and lip movements necessary to drink from a cup rim.